Spring Awakening

Yesterday afternoon I visited my mom. She still lives in the house where I spent my adolescent and teen years. I used to do a lot of walking in the woods behind our house -- it was where I first felt connected to nature, really.

Sometimes as early as February, the yellow aconite are already popping out through the snow and dead leaves in the woods. Yesterday they were in full, abundant blossom:


Just as lovely, if more delicate, were this crocus and its neighboring crocus-to-be:


Back at home, springtime made itself known mostly through its effect on kitty behavior. Pip wanted out very badly:




Trust was already in the sunny driveway, snuggling the blacktop:


And laid-back Millie, who had been out all Friday night, decided to just curl up on the comforter in a sunny bedroom:


The humans of the house have had to devise a verbal shorthand to keep track of which cats are indoors and which are outside. AKI (pronounced AH-key) means "all kitties in", while AKO (AH-koh) is "all kitties out". Something tells me that more and more AKO days are on the way.